October 15, 2020

In today’s society, the global exchange of goods from different parts of the world is a necessary and essential tool for developing countries and communities.

The use of agile and safe means of transport, where increasingly shorter delivery times are demanded in shipments and the maintenance of the original conditions from their starting point to their final destination, is a basic guideline followed by logistics companies like 417 Pest Solutions and transportation companies.

Pest Control in Containers

In this sense, operators must guarantee the safety, quality, and innocuousness of the transported products, especially when it comes to food, whose priority is to carry out sanitary actions that provide said guarantee.

Freight containers are the most widely used transport compartment for exports in all areas, whether by land, road, or sea. In air transport, its high weight reduces its operability.

During the transport of food products in general, and especially over long distances, both the maintenance of the appropriate conditions of the products, as well as their preservation against pests, is a priority to avoid economic losses due to spoiled goods and the possible health risk that its distribution may entail.

In the transport of plant material, the interest lies in preventing the spread of invasive pests and other harmful organisms in regions that are not present, which can have severe consequences for ecosystems and local economies, as confirmed by Pest Control Springfield.

Maintaining the health and hygiene conditions and the organoleptic properties of these products is an immediate action before and during transport.

Perishable Foods Transportation

Perishable foods must be refrigerated and frozen during storage and transport; prevention measures are mainly focused on keeping the goods in their original conditions and slowing down the processes of degradation, maturation, or putrefaction. For example, some foods such as table grapes are exported by introducing slow-release fungicidal action systems into the containers to control possible fungal rot during transport. In some cases, the aim is to accelerate ripening, as is the citrus degreening treatment before export, to remove chlorophyll from the skin.

Some food and non-food products, which are transported in containers, are especially susceptible to infestations by pests, and whose control is precise both in warehouses, silos, as well as in the containers where they are introduced for export, among the most common we find:

• Feed of animal or vegetable origin.
• Food, vegetable or animal origin, from: Processed cereals (including ground fractions and packaged cereals).
• Bakery mixes.
• Cereal processed foods (pasta, snacks, cookies, etc.).
• Processed vegetables (products derived from potatoes).
• Meat and fish products, cured, dried, and processed.
• Dairy products (powdered milk, cheese, etc.).
• Processed condiments and coffee.
• Chocolate and chocolate products.
• Sugar and processed sweets.
• Processed nuts.
• Processed tobacco and tobacco products.
• Processed natural fibers.
• Wood, chips, furniture, bamboo, rattan, and their products.
• Paper and paper products.
• Packaging materials: cardboard or wooden boxes, paper bags, jute, etc.

One of the most widespread techniques for disinsecting goods is the fumigation of containers using controlled generation techniques of gases with a biocidal effect, from compounds in the form of granules, pellets, tablets, etc. thus guaranteeing the absence of pests before or during transport, these treatments are usually carried out after the phytosanitary inspection in customs since they require a time of action and sealing of several days.